


Need You Now

by guineagirl5



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on a song, Depression, M/M, i dont even know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 08:52:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guineagirl5/pseuds/guineagirl5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arin was a bomb. Dan was collateral damage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Need You Now

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!  
> So this is just a short fic loosely based on the song "Need You Now" by Lady Antebellum. I heard it on the radio and started writing this.  
> I hope it doesn't seem rushed near the end, I really wanted to get it out there :P  
> You can find it [here](http://grumpbutts.tumblr.com/post/140640733820/need-you-now) on my tumblr as well.  
> Enjoy!

Dan stared at the polaroid photos that littered the hardwood floor of his living room. He was slumped on his couch, blanket bunched up under his face to catch all of the freshly fallen tears. The box that had held all of those pictures of him with Arin was crushed against the wood grain, and the photos were in various states of disrepair, some crumpled, some torn, some still okay. But they all made Dan’s heart pang in a way that was all too painful. 

Arin had left in a huff not even an hour before. No. More than a huff. Like he was going to explode and take Dan and all of those fucking stupid polaroids with him in the damage. He can’t even remember what the fight was about. Something about Dan not caring, Arin caring too much, Dan shutting down when the real conversations need to happen. It didn’t matter anymore, Arin was gone, and Dan didn’t know what the future held. 

His phone was sitting on the arm of his seat, with no new notifications but all of the temptation of a call to his best friend. Ex-best friend? Ex-boyfriend? He had no idea what they were anymore. All he knew was that his resolve was failing. Being alone in his apartment felt like he was in a black hole ready to swallow him up. Cold, endless, and silent. Dan’s phone buzzed, and he nearly knocked it off of the couch arm in his haste to check it. Only a text from his sister. He chose to ignore it. 

Midnight had come and gone without any reason to move, with no phone call from Arin Fucking Hanson. He made it to half after 1 am, and finally punched in Arin’s number. He couldn’t be alone anymore. Not when he knew they could possibly fix this, maybe pick up the torn polaroids that were taken with Arin’s old camera, tape them back together. Maybe he hoped too much. 

_ “Hey, you’ve reached Arin. Leave a mess-” _

Dan hung up before the answering machine could even finish. He wasn’t going to be the helpless boyfriend who leaves message after message begging the other to “come back, I can’t live without you”. Even though it was the truth.  He wouldn’t let it be known to the younger man. Not right now.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Arin poured another finger of whiskey. Knocked it back. Poured another. 

He shouldn’t have stormed out. He knew how Dan could get. The internal pain that the older went through from time to time was nothing new, and Arin was never the one to cause it, or make it worse. But this time, he probably was. 

Even Arin hurt when Dan got like this. Daniel Avidan was not one to mope around too much, he was usually happy and carefree. Usually. And  _ usually  _ Arin was there to help him out of the ruts. Not walk out with the claim that Dan never cared about them. He poured another shot. 

It probably wasn’t the best idea to sit in the grump space either. All he could think about was  _ Dan Dan Dan _ , until his brain felt like it was physically throbbing with all of the good times they’ve had. He wanted to forget. Just forget everything that had happened that night. But now he was just torturing himself. His phone rang, and he stared at the smiling picture he had assigned to Dan’s number.  _ I guess he can’t handle it either. _ Arin stared at his phone until it’s ringing jingle stopped. He wanted to pick up so bad, tell the other that they could work it out, he was sorry, it wasn’t Dan’s fault that his mind fucked him over sometimes. But his hand wouldn’t move, and he wasn’t about to try too hard.  _ Care too much _ . 

\------------------------------------------------------------

A new wave of sobs wracked Dan’s thin frame. His stupid mind kept reminding him of how alone he was in their apartment. How quiet it was without Arin’s near constant humming or random sounds he would make to fill the silence. His head turned to the phone again. Dan wanted to resist, not give in and seem weak. But Arin already thought he was weak, didn’t he? Of course he did. Dan just knew it.  _ Fuck it. _

He grabbed his phone with more force than he had meant to, and dialed in his love’s number. It rang once. Twice. Then a crackling filled his ear, as well as muttered curses in Arin’s voice. Was Arin actually going to talk to him?

“Dan?” Arin slurred through the receiver. There was the sound of him rearranging on what Dan could only assume to be the grump couch. “Baby?” 

Dan’s heart lurched at the name. “Arin?” He replied meekly. “Arin, where are you?”

“At the... the office.” The younger muttered out. “Drinking like a fuckin’ horse.”

Dan couldn’t help but choke out a small laugh. “Like always...”

Arin made an affirmative sound, and then Dan heard a series of sniffles. 

“Dan... I wanna come home.” Arin breathed out on the end of a small sob. “I didn’t mean to yell at you like that, I just... fuck.” Arin coughed. “I just hate seeing you so down. I feel helpless.” He admitted. 

Dan stifled another sob. “I want you home too, big cat.” He breathed. “Please don’t leave me, I’m trying to be better, I really am.”  Dan wiped snot on his shirt sleeve, trying to stay composed. “Please.”

Arin shushed the older. “It’s not your fault, I know it’s not. I’ll come home when I’m... a little more sober...” He sighed quietly. “I think you should go to a doctor, talk about getting meds again...” He murmured softly. “And I’ll try and be there in any way you need me.” 

They both cried for a minute, relieved that they didn’t lose each other for good. When Dan calmed down, he spoke again. 

“I love you. I need you in my life, I can’t do this again.”

“You won’t have to.” Arin sighed. “We’ll work it out.” There was a long pause, just the static of the airwaves filling the quiet. “I love you too, Leigh.” 

Dan had always loved the way Arin said his first name, no one else could ever replicate it. And he didn’t want them to. The eldest sniffled a few times more, letting Arin’s words sink in deeper. 

“Don’t come home until you can drive safely, asshole.” Dan quipped through the thickness settling in his throat. 

“I won’t.” Arin promised, wanting to hold Dan in his arms tightly to never let go. There was an unspoken claim wavering in the air. 

_ I’ll always come back.  _


End file.
